FIVE THINGS TO WATCH DURING DEL MAR MEET

del mar 
Del Mar is 37 days of horse racing over seven weeks, but of course it’s much more than that.

It starts with opening day today and the first-race roar, one that rivals any from any full-throat throng in sports. Joe Harper, president and CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, has a mantra when it comes to describing the uniqueness of this storied Southern California racetrack by the sea.

“It’s a happening. It’s a party. It’s a racetrack. It’s a cool place to be and certainly has become the place to be on opening day,” Harper said. “We’ve been so fortunate, not just opening day, but for 20 years of increases. I’m grateful for whoever comes in.”

Don’t worry, Joe. Open the gates to “The Track That Bing Built,” and they will come, in all sorts of dress and stages of undress.

Here are five things to watch during Del Mar’s 74th summer season:

Betting tip

Don’t be afraid to throw in a screwball long shot in your multi-horse wagers. The main course, Polytrack, has a long history of producing boxcar, exotic payouts.

U-T San Diego handicapper Bob Ike, a Vista High graduate, says to look for horses that have run well here in the past, or what he calls “horses for courses.” Ike says Hollywood Park form often doesn’t play here, even though both feature synthetic surfaces.

“This Polytrack is a different beast,” Ike said.

Female jockeys

Like most racetracks around the country, Del Mar won’t feature many female riders, but Kayla Stra and Chantal Sutherland are here.

Sutherland, the Del Mar marketing department’s poster girl from last year, came out of a short retirement to return to a track that Harper once said she was born to ride at. Sutherland took some self-help courses that she says have improved her outlook on life and her focus as a rider.

“I needed a mental and physical break, and I ate some humble pie losing Game On Dude,” she said, referring to losing her mount on the Bob Baffert-trained multiple stakes winner after finishing second to Dullahan in last year’s TVG Pacific Classic. “But I completed a really cool course and got my head where it needs to be. I’m way more positive and happy and more excited about what I’m doing.”

Stra is a new mother who overcame some hassles from state racing stewards at Hollywood Park for having her 8-month-old boy in the women’s jockey room. Del Mar is accommodating Stra so she can perform her motherly duties without interruption.

Sutherland and Stra are very capable of booting home long shots and flashing fireworks on the toteboard.

Trainers

Del Mar’s training title has been won by four different men the last four meets: Peter Miller (2012), Mike Mitchell (2011), Doug O’Neill (2010) and John Sadler (2009).

Sadler won the Betfair Hollywood Park title and appears to be well-stocked for Del Mar. Mike Puype had a terrific Hollywood meeting, winning three races on closing day and earlier winning six consecutive starts.

O’Neill, who won back-to-back Del Mar training titles in 2006-07, is excited about his string that will feature Goldencents, who ran in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

“It’s hard not to feel like a champ down there,” O’Neill said. “It’s such an amazing place. The weather is beautiful. The people are beautiful. The purses are huge.”

Big race

The $1 million Pacific Classic is set for Sunday, Aug. 25. There’s no official word that last year’s winner — Dullahan, who is considered a Polytrack freak — will return to defend, but Del Mar officials believe that Jerry Crawford and his Donegal Racing team are leaning that way.

Delegation, who won the Grade III Dominion Day Handicap at Woodbine on July 1, has been listed as an early candidate for the Pacific Classic. That win was his fifth out of six starts on synthetic tracks. He’s owned by Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse.

Kentucky Derby fever

They say Derby dreaming really starts here with Del Mar’s 2-year-old races. The top trainers — like Baffert, O’Neill, Sadler, Mitchell, Jerry Hollendorfer, Richard Mandella and Mike Harrington — have some top young performers who will debut here or continue campaigns. You just never know when the next I’ll Have Another or Silver Charm will rise up out of a race at Del Mar.